Reading Hard Times: Literature, History, and Education

Abstract

Charles Dickens’s fiction has been credited with effecting social reforms, with bringing about changes in understanding by the use of stories which are not factual. This thesis follows a pathway into Dickens’s world of fact and fancy, looking for how a literary work might relate to the fundamentals of human thought and how an examination of Hard Times might add to our knowledge of the educational implications of literature. How might fancy, as not-fact, influence human thought? My examination of Hard Times considers the nature of the relationship between the reader and the text from a perspective hinted at by Dickens. I begin with an examination of existing studies from across disciplines, particularly biology and psychology, seeking a possible physical source for the ability of non-factual information to influence human thinking. The study of Hard Times begins with a history of the author and the influences upon him; the times in which he lived and set the novel are examined, drawing heavily on history and sociology. Throughout the thesis Paulo Freire’s early work has provided a framework to assist the analysis of the text and Dickens’s depiction of his times. Dickens’s life and personality shed light on his interests in education, and the philosophy that he developed. A greater degree of historical accuracy in the representation of educational issues than has been customarily attributed to the text is demonstrated. Common ground is established between the early ideas of Paulo Freire and the observations of Dickens, with special attention being given to the role of education as it is controlled and utilised by the interests of industrial capitalism. Dickens’s remarkable psychological insight into human behaviour is illustrated in an examination of the relationship between Thomas Gradgrind and Josiah Bounderby. Insights from Freire help in the identification of their inauthentic dialogue as an allegory for the conflicted interests of the state and the economic powers within it. Dickens, no theoretician, makes his case against allowing the interests of business to redirect education into the production of measurable outcomes, at the expense of human development. The final discussion on the nature of fancy, including the evolutionary importance of narrative thought, demonstrates that a literary work can indeed make a contribution to educational philosophy.